0:00

Hello friends,

0:00

this is Shannon Earley, the

0:02

hostess of the nesting with the

0:02

early birds podcast. And I'm so

0:06

glad that you're back. For all

0:06

of you that have returned

0:09

listeners, thank you so much.

0:09

And if you're brand new, thank

0:12

you so much for coming. This

0:12

podcast is really just a time

0:16

for me to encourage women. If

0:16

you're a man, that's fine to

0:20

check it out. Listen, I just

0:20

wanted to remind everybody,

0:23

you're not alone. And whatever

0:23

experience you're going through,

0:26

somebody out there is going

0:26

through the same thing. And

0:30

maybe listening to these stories

0:30

or listening to these words of

0:33

encouragement can just help you

0:33

get through those things a

0:35

little bit easier. I'm a

0:35

Christian homeschooling mom of

0:39

four children, two of which are

0:39

on the autism spectrum, one of

0:43

which has a rare genetic

0:43

disorder. I'm also a

0:46

hairstylist, guys, things are

0:46

crazy over here, that I

0:50

mentioned homeschooling, I don't

0:50

even know because my mind is in

0:54

75 places at all times. But I've

0:54

gotten a lot of tips from doing

0:59

a lot of life. And I've actually

0:59

even survived things like abuse,

1:04

what in the world. So thank you

1:04

so much for coming and checking

1:08

it out. I really appreciate it.

1:08

And remember to share this with

1:12

other people that might be

1:12

interested and helped me to have

1:15

this podcast grow. Thank you so

1:15

much, guys. And remember, God

1:20

totally loves you all the time.

1:20

By the way, before we get into

1:24

this super wonderful episode.

1:24

Have you guys ever considered

1:28

being a patron of the arts, such

1:28

as the podcasting arts, whether

1:33

you're in luck, because I happen

1:33

to have an account or you can

1:37

literally donate money to help

1:37

support me in this podcasting,

1:42

adventure? All of the things

1:42

cost money, you know, equipment,

1:46

internet, computer, all that

1:46

jazz. Not to mention, it's

1:50

really exciting when people do

1:50

decide to say, hey, Shannon, you

1:54

know what I like what you have

1:54

to say I'm gonna help you out.

1:57

If you are interested, please

1:57

check out HTTPS. colon, is that

2:03

what it is backslash backslash,

2:03

www.patreon.com slash nesting

2:13

with the early birds. And

2:13

Patreon is PS and Paul a T as in

2:19

Tom, R e. N as in Nancy, and

2:19

early birds. Remember, it's EA r

2:26

l e Why? Thank you so much. Now

2:26

sit back, relax and enjoy our

2:32

episode. And today I'm going to

2:32

share with you an episode that

2:37

was created for my UK

2:37

partnership with the district

2:42

dubs radio show. There is

2:42

basically a radio show in the

2:47

UK. And I have been asked to be

2:47

a presenter on that show twice a

2:52

month. So without further ado,

2:52

here is my episode from the

2:57

Listen up segment of the show

2:57

all about addiction. Thank you

3:02

so much for coming back. Hello,

3:02

friends. Welcome back to

3:09

district dubs presents. Listen

3:09

up with your hostess Shannon

3:14

Earley, which, that's me.

3:14

Welcome back, everybody. This is

3:19

March something, I don't know,

3:19

March 3, fourth, fifth, whatever

3:23

it is, and I'm so excited to

3:23

come with you guys on your

3:28

journey of exploring life. I

3:28

basically for those of you that

3:33

are new listeners or new

3:33

friends, I just like to bring up

3:38

topics that are really important

3:38

to people to maybe open up your

3:42

mind a little bit, let you see what's going on around

3:43

the world. And maybe even let

3:47

you feel like Oh, wait a minute,

3:47

I'm not alone. Or, oh, I think

3:51

I've heard of this before,

3:51

basically giving you some good

3:55

Table Talk conversations for

3:55

your friends and your family. So

4:00

today, we are actually going to

4:00

talk about addiction,

4:04

addictions, signs, symptoms,

4:04

what to look for that kind of

4:10

thing. And addiction is a super

4:10

big deal, guys. When I first

4:15

even say the word addiction, I'm

4:15

sure so many of you might

4:17

automatically think of something

4:17

like drugs. and substance abuse

4:22

is a form of addiction. That's

4:22

100% true. However, there's also

4:27

behavioral addictions that can

4:27

really really affect our lives.

4:32

And I wanted to just give you

4:32

guys a little rundown on the

4:36

signs and symptoms that you can

4:36

look for that maybe you can, you

4:42

know, keep an eye out for

4:42

anyways, just to make sure that

4:45

your loved one or your friend is

4:45

doing all right. Especially

4:49

after 2020 I know so many of us

4:49

had so many really difficult

4:54

things happen. And we're trying

4:54

to deal with all of these really

4:59

difficult things. And that is

4:59

the perfect time for diction to

5:03

strike. So keep your eyes open,

5:03

or I guess your ears open. In

5:09

this case, since it's a radio

5:09

show, Shannon gee whiz. So okay,

5:15

I wanted to just go over with

5:15

you guys some of the things,

5:19

most of the information that I

5:19

will be sharing with you comes

5:22

from the American Society of

5:22

Addiction Medicine, they

5:27

actually define addiction as a

5:27

chronic disease that affects the

5:31

brain's reward, motivation and

5:31

memory functions. Someone with

5:36

an addiction will crave a

5:36

substance or other behavioral

5:41

habits, even though they will

5:41

often ignore other areas of

5:45

their lives in order to support

5:45

their desires. So that's a

5:50

pretty big deal. It's basically

5:50

saying, if you have an

5:53

addiction, a loved one has an

5:53

addiction, everything else, they

5:56

just forego everything else.

5:56

They've got eyes just for this

5:59

thing just for this behavior.

5:59

And addiction can affect an

6:03

entire family. I know firsthand

6:03

from some of the people in my

6:08

family that suffered through

6:08

substance abuse, substance abuse

6:12

disorders, behavioral

6:12

addictions, it can be a pretty

6:16

big deal, guys, it can. It's a

6:16

very insidious destroyer of

6:20

family life, friend life,

6:20

whichever. So the general signs

6:25

of addiction are a lack of

6:25

control, or an inability to stay

6:30

away from the substance or

6:30

behavior, decreased

6:34

socialization, so they might

6:34

abandon commitments or ignore

6:40

relationships. Also, they might

6:40

ignore risk factors. So for

6:45

instance, you've heard that with

6:45

heroin needle users a big

6:50

problem, you know, can be aids

6:50

or hepatitis, things like that,

6:55

from sharing needles, that would

6:55

be ignoring a risk factor,

7:00

physical effects, like

7:00

withdrawal symptoms, or needing

7:04

higher dosage for the same

7:04

effect. And also, even though

7:09

these are all separate, different signs, they're oftentimes linked, you know, so

7:11

if they have one, oftentimes,

7:16

they're going to have the other.

7:16

So the degree or intensity of

7:20

each sign, though, it's going to

7:20

depend on how long the addiction

7:24

has gone on, and basically how

7:24

severe it is. So a healthy

7:29

person, okay, let's pretend that

7:29

you are a mentally healthy

7:33

person, I'm going to pretend I'm

7:33

mentally healthy. And a mentally

7:38

healthy person can usually

7:38

identify a negative behavior and

7:42

get rid of it, oh, when I spend

7:42

too much money, it really, you

7:46

know, affects my life and my

7:46

family's upset and blah, blah,

7:50

blah, okay, I will not shop at

7:50

the store today, to buy new

7:54

shoes. That's a mentally healthy

7:54

person, somebody that has an

7:58

addiction problem, however, it's

7:58

just not the case. So rather

8:03

than admitting that the problem

8:03

even exists, though, they're

8:07

gonna find ways to justify and

8:07

continue their behavior.

8:12

The first step to getting help

8:12

obvious learn, is being able to

8:16

even recognize the physical,

8:16

mental, emotional, all of those

8:23

different signs, okay, you need

8:23

to be able to identify that it's

8:26

either happening to you or to a

8:26

loved one, in order to even get

8:30

help, you know, that old saying

8:30

about, like, you can't help

8:34

someone till they want to help

8:34

themselves, or basically, they

8:36

need to admit there's a problem.

8:36

I mean, yeah, it's an old

8:40

saying, or whatever, because

8:40

it's a true thing. And that can

8:43

be really frustrating. Just as a

8:43

side note, this is not on the

8:48

information that I've gotten

8:48

from the website. But on a side

8:52

note, as a family member, that

8:52

does have loved ones with

8:56

addiction behaviors, it can be

8:56

very frustrating, when like, you

9:00

really want them to get help,

9:00

because you love them so darn

9:03

much. And they're just not

9:03

having any of it, you know,

9:06

they're justifying it or blaming

9:06

or ignoring, or it can be really

9:10

hard, and then trying to, you

9:10

know, continue to love them

9:13

through, it's like, there's this

9:13

party that wants to stay safe.

9:17

So you might even start closing

9:17

off little walls to your heart,

9:21

you know, and, and that can be

9:21

damaging to the relationship

9:25

too, because they don't get you

9:25

anymore, you know, and you're

9:28

not it's just addictions. So,

9:28

there's different types of

9:34

addiction. But before I get into

9:34

that, I did want to share with

9:38

you guys just how common or how

9:38

frequent people with addiction

9:45

and abuse, like substance abuse

9:45

disorders, I want you to know

9:51

how common it is. So in the year

9:51

2020, which just happened, this

9:57

particular helpline actually

9:57

received A 27% increase in phone

10:04

calls that we're asking for help

10:04

a 27% increase that's major. So

10:12

in 2019, they received a total

10:12

of 656 953 phone calls. But last

10:20

year 2020, they received

10:20

833,598. What's neat about it

10:28

too, guys, you can look for your

10:28

local state service that they

10:33

can give you assistance, you can

10:33

call your health insurance. If

10:36

you don't have health insurance,

10:36

you can look at your Medicaid,

10:40

Medicare, all these different

10:40

things that will help find a

10:44

place for you to receive help or

10:44

get help for a loved one. They

10:48

also even have places that offer

10:48

sliding scale situations where

10:51

Okay, you make x, we will charge

10:51

you why kind of thing. So this

10:56

particular helpline, if you ever

10:56

are looking to get you know,

11:00

referral surfaces, or if you're

11:00

trying to see like, is this

11:04

addiction, you know, you can

11:04

always call, they have trained

11:08

information specialists, okay.

11:08

And they basically will transfer

11:12

the calls to any appropriate

11:12

intake center that it needs to

11:16

go to and that way you can be

11:16

connected with local assistance

11:20

for support because you know,

11:20

your particular area, you

11:24

probably rather drive 10 minutes

11:24

to get to the place than four

11:27

hours. Okay, let's be real. So,

11:27

the phone number for the

11:33

substance abuse and treatment

11:33

hotline, good gravy, I had it

11:40

right in my face, whatever this

11:40

is what happens when you do like

11:43

a live thing. Things happen.

11:43

Okay. So the national helpline

11:48

for the USA America is one

11:48

800 662 help, which is

11:56

1-800-662-4357. It's free,

11:56

confidential, 20 473 165 day a

12:05

year treatment referral, and

12:05

Information Service. They also

12:08

have an English E and espanol,

12:08

for you Spanish speakers, for

12:13

individuals or families that are

12:13

facing mental or substance use

12:17

disorders. Okay, so let's get

12:17

back into more of the signs

12:24

symptoms abuse Lalalalalala. We

12:24

talked about how there's general

12:28

signs and basically, a person

12:28

can have more than one and

12:31

oftentimes they are co

12:31

morbidities. I don't know, they

12:35

go together, okay, oftentimes.

12:35

So now we're going to talk and

12:39

we also said how the stronger or

12:39

longer the addictions gone on

12:43

the more intensive signs or

12:43

symptoms are going to be.

12:48

Now I wanted to go through some

12:48

types of addiction. Okay, so,

12:52

addiction is commonly

12:52

associated, like I said, with

12:55

drugs, like substance abuse,

12:55

alcohol, but behavioral

12:59

addiction, gambling that, you

12:59

know, for instance, it's just as

13:03

serious, it's just as

13:03

destructive. So, addiction,

13:08

again, is when a person is

13:08

consistently unable to abstain

13:14

from a behavior or substance.

13:14

And this is at the cost of their

13:18

physical or mental health, their

13:18

family health, it's terrible. So

13:22

substance addiction is generally

13:22

a dependence on one or more of

13:26

the following. Okay, nicotine or

13:26

tobacco, alcohol, inhalants,

13:32

like oven cleaners, spray paints

13:32

or other aerosol products,

13:36

drugs, illicit or non illicit

13:36

medication. Okay, now behavioral

13:43

addictions, these are more like

13:43

gambling, working sex and

13:49

pornography, shopping, video

13:49

games using the internet or

13:54

media. Okay, so you might be

13:54

thinking like why working in

13:58

addiction working super good,

13:58

not if it's not if you're unable

14:02

to abstain from it for your

14:02

mental and physical health guys,

14:06

so put that in the back your put

14:06

that in your pipe and smoke it.

14:11

Maybe that's like the worst

14:11

thing to say. Hi, Shannon, for

14:15

the addiction thing. Okay. So

14:15

initial signs of a addiction

14:21

that you can identify. So early

14:21

stages don't necessarily have

14:25

the same full blown effects as a

14:25

longer addiction. But some of

14:30

the initial signs might be

14:30

experimentation, family history

14:35

of addiction, being particularly

14:35

drawn to an activity or

14:39

substance, seeking out

14:39

situations where the substance

14:43

or activity is present. You want

14:43

to smoke meth, you'll hang out

14:47

with methods. Episodes of binge

14:47

eating are loss of control with

14:51

little to no feelings or remorse

14:51

afterwards. So when it comes to

14:56

social behaviors, like drinking

14:56

or smoking, it can be really

14:59

difficult To identify when

14:59

there's actually an addiction

15:02

present. And also, when you have

15:02

an addiction to drinking or

15:06

smoking something, those are the

15:06

people that you want to hang out

15:10

with. Those are who you're

15:10

gravitated, you know, you

15:12

gravitate towards kind of like,

15:12

oh, watch out who you hang out

15:16

with. That's the, you know, when

15:16

you get sober, you don't really

15:20

want to go hang out with people

15:20

that are doing that activity

15:23

anymore. Also, some people, it

15:23

might look like an addiction at

15:28

first, you know, glance, but

15:28

really, it might be a form of

15:31

stress management management for

15:31

them, you know, they might have

15:33

gone through something really

15:33

big recently. And so they're

15:37

smoking cigarettes for some time

15:37

to get over it. Maybe they just

15:40

got sober. Give them those

15:40

cigarettes, guys, you know. So

15:45

just remember, use your

15:45

judgement, when you're checking

15:47

these things out, don't be like

15:47

addiction addiction, you know,

15:50

you never know what's really

15:50

going on. Also, my my advice is

15:55

get to know the person really

15:55

well, like ask them questions

15:58

about themselves, and don't just

15:58

judge them from the go look for

16:04

changes in their personality. So

16:04

when a person moves past the

16:09

experimenting things, and or

16:09

even past the early phase of the

16:13

addiction, they're gonna exhibit

16:13

major personality or behavior

16:17

changes. So they might be

16:17

infrequent at first. But some of

16:22

the telltale signs are going to

16:22

include things like

16:29

just kidding, I already went

16:29

through that, look at that I

16:31

don't even have I wrote page

16:31

numbers on my pages, and then I

16:35

put them in reverse order.

16:35

Anyways, so the personality and

16:40

behavior changes, like I was

16:40

talking about would be like a

16:42

lack of interest in hobbies or

16:42

activities that used to be

16:46

important. They could neglect

16:46

relationships, or they might

16:50

react negatively to those

16:50

closest to them, they might miss

16:53

important obligations, like

16:53

deadlines for work, risk taking

16:58

tendencies, especially to get

16:58

drugs or certain behaviors, you

17:02

know, maybe they're gonna have

17:02

performed sexual favors, in

17:06

order to get money to buy drugs,

17:06

that kind of thing. Ignoring

17:10

negative consequences of their

17:10

actions, a distinct change in

17:15

sleeping patterns that result in

17:15

chronic fatigue, increase

17:18

secrecy, like lying about the

17:18

amount of substance used, or

17:22

time spent, you may notice an

17:22

increase in alienation over time

17:27

as well. And like I said, they

17:27

try to South surround themselves

17:32

with others to encourage their

17:32

habits, okay, so I've been

17:37

hanging out with you a lot and

17:37

they've got a new crowd,

17:39

generally, that crowd is going

17:39

to be engaged in the same

17:43

situation, okay. Another way to

17:43

recognize addiction is to pay

17:47

attention to your friend or

17:47

family members, mental and

17:51

physical health. So if the

17:51

addiction is to a drug or

17:54

behavior, their health is almost

17:54

always going to decline.

17:59

Alright, so signs that point

17:59

towards their health failing or

18:02

changing declining would be

18:02

things like bloodshot or glazed

18:06

eyes, constant illness,

18:06

unexplained injuries, abrupt

18:11

changes in weight, bad skin,

18:11

hair, teeth and nails,

18:16

especially if the substance

18:16

abuse involves illicit drugs

18:20

like methamphetamine or cocaine,

18:20

increased tolerance to drugs,

18:25

physical withdrawal symptoms

18:25

like sweating, trembling,

18:29

vomiting, memory loss or

18:29

problems with recall. And then

18:33

change in speech, like slurred

18:33

words, or rapid rambling. All

18:37

right. And then the following

18:37

mental, or emotional changes are

18:42

also signs of an addiction

18:42

problem. Also, let's put on the

18:46

back burner, you need to

18:46

understand the person enough to

18:50

know are they actually going

18:50

through like bipolar disorder?

18:53

Are they having depression

18:53

anxiety, because that's how

18:56

these things these signs are

18:56

going to stick out differently.

18:59

Okay. Anyways, so they might

18:59

have a sudden change in mood

19:03

like aggressive behavior,

19:03

irritability, depression,

19:07

apathy, suicidal thoughts. And

19:07

again, you want to eliminate any

19:12

potential medical reasons for

19:12

someone's health decline, okay.

19:15

So keep in mind that someone

19:15

with an addiction is almost

19:19

always going to understate the

19:19

seriousness of their condition.

19:23

Okay. So, if there's no other

19:23

explanation for their condition,

19:29

then there's an increased chance

19:29

that there's an underlying

19:31

addiction problem. Now, long

19:31

term consequences of addiction,

19:36

guys, this is the Bad News

19:36

Bears. So in the middle or later

19:41

stages of addiction, the

19:41

negative effects are generally

19:45

going to be more permanent. And

19:45

that's really, really tough

19:49

news. Okay. It also is going to

19:49

have long term consequences. So

19:54

someone with a serious addiction

19:54

problem they might allow, ignore

19:59

or trivialize these outcomes

19:59

just in favor of continuing

20:04

their habit. So potential long

20:04

term consequences include things

20:08

like getting an infectious

20:08

disease, especially through

20:12

shared needles, dropping out of

20:12

school, getting poor grades,

20:17

damaged relationships with

20:17

friends and family, loss of Good

20:21

Standing or tarnished

20:21

reputation, arrests, jail time,

20:26

eviction from the home failed

20:26

mortgage payments, loss of job

20:31

loss of parental rights. So and

20:31

again, similar things can happen

20:35

in the lives of people without

20:35

an addiction problem. But these

20:39

become more common when an

20:39

addiction is present. So

20:44

remember to determine if the

20:44

problem is the result of like a

20:47

single incident, or a growing

20:47

problem with addiction. Okay. So

20:52

and here are some ways that you

20:52

can support a friend or family

20:57

member. Learn more about the

20:57

substance or behavior

21:02

dependency, okay? Learn more

21:02

about the effects let's pretend

21:07

of heroin on the body, why would

21:07

the person seek it out?

21:10

What is the brain's reward

21:10

system with it? also learn more

21:14

about the dependency on it? How

21:14

does it physically affect that

21:17

person? What is it like to

21:17

withdraw and learn more about

21:21

the treatment as well, and it's

21:21

not their job to tell you about

21:25

it. This is for you to do on

21:25

your own, you research it, okay?

21:29

stay involved, okay, like,

21:29

offered to go to meetings with

21:33

them. If somebody were to come

21:33

out and say they were addicted

21:36

to something admitting to a

21:36

problem like that is hugely

21:41

brave of them. And then actually

21:41

seeking treatment on top of that

21:45

is courageous to an extent I

21:45

can't even explain. And imagine

21:49

feeling all those withdrawal

21:49

symptoms, we're talking about

21:52

all that feeling of not being

21:52

able to stop it, and then

21:54

they're actively seeking help

21:54

and going to treatment. loving

21:58

them, while would be things like

21:58

go to a meeting with them, offer

22:01

to drive them. And not because

22:01

you've got some undertones of I

22:04

want to make sure that I'm

22:04

watching them and controlling

22:07

them, but because you love them,

22:07

you care about them and you want

22:09

to show them that you support

22:09

them. Okay? also provide a sober

22:14

and trigger free setting if you

22:14

normally have a glass of wine

22:17

after dinner, but your friend is

22:17

a recovering alcoholic. Don't

22:20

you dare open that wine and

22:20

think that's okay. Okay, don't

22:25

speak up. Okay? Speak the truth

22:25

out of love. If it seems like

22:30

they're experiencing a relapse,

22:30

it's up to you to say, Hey, I

22:34

think that there's a problem

22:34

happening again, I would like to

22:37

help you. So even though you can

22:37

treat addiction, in most cases,

22:44

someone with an addiction,

22:44

they're going to, they have to

22:47

want to change for recovery to

22:47

be successful. Okay. So again,

22:53

it's important to have quick

22:53

access to treatment. So if you

22:57

or someone you know has an

22:57

addiction, call 1-800-622-4357

23:03

for free and confidential

23:03

treatment, referral, and

23:06

information. You can also seek

23:06

help from your doctor local

23:09

support group treatment center,

23:09

and remember that they can

23:14

affect many areas of a person's

23:14

life. Okay? The most effective

23:18

treatments for addiction are

23:18

comprehensive, which means they

23:21

have several steps, and they

23:21

vary from person to person. So

23:25

they might include things like

23:25

detoxification, you know, detox,

23:30

behavioral counseling, and long

23:30

term follow up. Thank you so

23:34

much for listening to listen up

23:34

with your hosts, Shannon Earley.

23:38

And if you wanted to ever listen

23:38

to more of what I got to talk

23:41

about, check out my podcast at

23:41

nesting with the early

23:44

birds.com. And early is EA r L.

23:44

E y.

23:50

I'm a homeschooling mom of four.

23:52

And I talk a lot

23:52

about life. Alright guys, thank

23:54

you so much. And I will be

23:54

thinking about all of you. Thank

23:59

you so much for listening today.

23:59

And remember, you can find my

24:02

entire catalogue of podcast

24:02

episodes at WWW dot nesting with

24:08

the early birds.com. Or find me

24:08

on Facebook, Instagram, you know

24:14

all that jazz. Thank you so much

24:14

for coming. And also share this

24:18

episode with somebody that you

24:18

think might need to hear all

24:22

about addiction. Thank you so

24:22

much for coming. And remember

24:25

God loves you all the time.